Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Indicators of health has not improved

India’s standing on most indicators of health has not improved, and the government has failed to play the role that was expected from it, says Vikas Kumar

Now the time has come, indeed, to do some serious introspection. Public spending on health was 0.9% of GDP. However, even after five years it is just 1% of national GDP. It is a data which puts us at the bottom, with only four countries to spare. The states are worse. Due to fiscal mismanagement, states have decreased their spending from 4.5% in 1999-2000 to 3.6% in 2008-09. One of the populist announcements of UPA was to increase the number of Primary Health Centres by 50% and then by upto 75%. However, the percentage of vacant doctor posts in the Primary Health Centres has also increased from 13.36% in 2001 to 18.04% in 2007. If this is not enough, as per the report of Ministry of Rural Health Statistics of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW), 50% of sub-centers, 24% of PHCs and 16% of CHCs function out of rented or temporary premises. Also, the Indian health sector is one of the most privatised in the world. Only 12 countries are ahead in terms of private spending on health.

The prevalence rate of underweight children below five years in India is 43%, even lower than 28% in sub-Saharan Africa. As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3, 46% of children below 3 years of age were under weight. Percentage of anemic children between 6-35 months increased to 79.2% in 2005-06, from 74.2% in 1996-97. The nutritional condition of children has remained static over the last past five years, which clearly shows that the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program aimed at promoting child health and nutrition is also not working.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Posted by at 3:10 PM
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Monday, January 28, 2013

... but then, so do outsiders!

Paul is an outsider (a non-TCS), and sometimes it is safer to hire a top executive from outside

In technology, IBM holds the gold standard on how to undertake succession planning. Potential candidates were selected early on in their careers and then fast tracked through jobs, so that there was always a deep pool to choose from whenever an executive spot became available. From these top executive spots the new CEO was generally chosen with the exception of Louis Gerstner, who was brought in to turn the company around in the late 80s. While not as robust a process, Tata Consultancy Services does appear to show some similarity in the apparent grooming of Ramadorai into the role, which is now followed by N. Chandrasekaran, who now appears competently capable of taking on the mantle as the chief executive of TCS. You look for consistency in a process like this because you can draw conclusions from prior successes to anticipate future results. Ramadorai’s success implies that Chandrasekaran will be successful as well in this role.

This is a sustaining transition. In other words, TCS is in a relatively good shape in an ugly market and this typically means that the management wants a sustaining manager, who will continue with what has been a successful strategy and not a disruptive change agent. This is what they will most likely get with Chandrasekaran. With him, TCS appears to showcase both strong succession planning and good grooming for the intended new top chief executive.

The second contender for the top job is Vivek Paul. Undoubtedly, Paul has a great personality and has lots of experiences also. Paul is more competent, but less likely to take the job actually. I think he is a very strong player, but probably too wealthy and smart to take this position. Government interference will be high and the effort, even without that, would be very difficult. He is smart enough to know that the personal risks of this job probably significantly exceed the personal benefits. Paul is an outsider (a non-TCS), and sometimes it is safer to hire a top executive from outside, for an outsider is more likely to take actions that need to be taken that an insider would avoid.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Posted by at 11:58 AM
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Friday, January 25, 2013

It has done in the past many years

Ten reasons why India would grow almost as strongly as it has done in the past many years

FDI: China habitually gets more than $150 billion in foreign direct investments every year. As a percentage of GDP, it hovers between 7% to 10%. In sharp contrast, Indian policy makers start whooping with joy when FDI crosses $20 billion. Not to mention that FDI has almost never exceeded even 0.5% of GDP. Now, we all know that foreign investments will dry up. But since most of India’s GDP growth has been driven by domestic investment, we will be the least adversely affected. Let’s say FDI inflow declines by a whopping 50% or about $10 billion. That works out to one-tenth of one percent of GDP. Do your own maths!

EXPORTS: There are horror stories floating around of how hundreds of thousands of jobs are being lost because exports are slowing down and declining. A recent government survey says that half a million jobs were lost in the last quarter of 2008 because of contracting exports. Half a million jobs gone is bad news indeed. But compare that with an admission by the Chinese government (A government that is loathe to admit anything!) that 20 million jobs were lost in the same period and you suddenly get a fresh perspective on where India stands compared to other nations. Also remember, exports from India still hover around 15% of GDP, one of the lowest figures among major economies in the world.

CONSUMPTION: The Indian economy resembles that of the United States in many unique ways. One of the most striking similarities is that related to consumption. Consumption accounts for just about 35% of GDP in China while it constitutes about 65% of GDP in India. One reason why GDP growth in China kept racing ahead of India was huge increase in investments year after year while consumption expenditure can really grow at more modest levels. When bad times come, consumption might stagnate in India while investment is bound to plunge in China. No wonder, the Indian GDP growth rate will moderate from about 9% to about 7% in 2008-09 while it is poised to crash from 13% to 6% in China. Slow and steady is often better!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Posted by at 4:36 PM
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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

THEY STILL STAND ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE

THOUGH LATIN AMERICAN ECONOMIES LIKE ARGENTINA, VENEZUELA AND COLOMBIA HAVE SHOWN SOME RESILIENCE AGAINST THE OVERRIDING DOWNTURN IN THE RECENT PAST. BUT, WITH HUGE SOVEREIGN DEBTS AND THEIR GROWING INCAPABILITY TO SERVICE THEM AT A STANDARD RATE, THEY STILL STAND ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE, FEELS MANISH K. PANDEY…

What’s more! The government has been unwilling to slow spending amid this year’s downturn. Reason: the 2011 presidential election is approaching and the Kirchner administration doesn’t want to compromise on its ‘flagging’ popularity.

For most countries, tolerating a short-term deficit to stimulate the economy is a reasonable tradeoff. But, for Argentina, however, the picture is complicated by the country’s limited access to foreign capital as it has been in default since 2001. Though Christina’s predecessor, her husband Nestor Kirchner had restructured most of the debt and even repaid money borrowed from IMF, Argentina still remains in default of over $20 billion of debt from its 2005 restructuring and over $6 billion in Paris Club debt. Worse, Argentina’s total debt, not counting that held by the holdouts, as of today stands at $140 billion (almost 50% of GDP)!

The Argentine government has also been questioned by analysts on the validity of certain economic indicators, which the government is reported to have skewed seemingly to get a favourable market standing. For instance, inflation has been ‘officially’ hovering around 9% since 2006. But it was privately estimated at 12-15% that year and over 15% in 2008. All this has led to a scenario where investors are left with little (or say no) faith on the Argentine government. According to Argentina’s central bank, capital flight from the country has reached $5.5 billion in Q2 2009, bringing a total of $11.2 billion in H1 2009. In fact, since 2007, capital flight has reached about $43 billion on worries over its economic outlook. Economist Rodrigo Alvarez from consultants Ecolatina, warns that capital flight from Argentina has reached levels similar to those of 2001. In his view, the government needs to restore confidence before it’s too late. Even as per Morgan Stanley analysts, Argentina’s fiscal accounts are moving toward deficits, which will likely increase worries on fiscal sustainability and “the country’s ability to honour its debt service obligations.” Considering this they have even lowered their “forecasts for Argentina’s fiscal balance to -0.6% of GDP (from 0.0%) for 2009 and -0.9% of GDP (from -0.4%) for 2010.”

The scenario is somewhat similar in Venezuela where high levels of government spending and unorthodox economic policies are catching up very fast. In fact, the country’s GDP has already fallen by 4.5% in Q2 2009, following a 2.4% decline in the first quarter.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

Posted by at 10:43 AM
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Monday, January 21, 2013

CLIMATE SUMMIT: ‘WASTE OF AN EFFORT’ DEFINED

There were few forums across the year that allowed unknown environment ministers of different nations to meet each other. And then someone worked out a brilliant concept of global warming meets! by anchal gupta

Just for argument’s sake, take a test – try and identify your nation’s minister for mines, or the minister for textiles, or perhaps the one handling chemicals and fertilizers, or maybe culture, or better, rural development. Now try the same for the minister handling environment in your country. Get the spin?

Let’s face it, there is a huge lobby of intellectual and political experts denying man-made effects of global warming – but so does one particular Iranian the existence of the Holocaust. That said, reviewing even questionable findings, it does seem sensible to call for action on a war footing to save the most vulnerable and poorest communities on earth from annihilation. But the urgency with which the case for a follow-up to the Kyoto protocol was put forward by world governments in the summit at Bali has been substituted by hegemonic didactic of developed nations about equal responsibility of developing countries like India, China and Brazil to reduce carbon emissions as they are the fastest growing emitters. But developing nations are learning to return this sledgehammer serve of the developed world.

The fall out has been clamourous, complex and at times cynically hilarious. President Obama vows to reduce US emissions by 83% by 2050. It means 2050 US emissions will be at 1910 level when the US population was 92 million. However, with 420 million Americans in 2050, it simply means that US per capita emissions in 2050 would be the same as in 1875. South America’s histrionics mired in anti US propaganda continue especially with massive oil and gas discoveries in recent times which Latin American nations plan to sell to the entire world in coming decades.

China, the biggest emitter of Green House Gases (GHGs) recently declared that it has set a binding goal to reduce emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2050. At the same time, China is adding nearly two coal fired plants per week and its coal power industry is expanding at the rate of 50% for the last few years. India, suddenly realizing that its old position of equal yet differentiated responsibilities was being tossed around as a deal breakers’ whim, suddenly took big ‘brother’ China’s direction and declared to reduce its per capita emissions too – voluntarily, brother, voluntarily. Amazingly, amongst the trio (of US, India and China), China continues to have the worst energy intensity with amount of GHG emitted per $1m of GDP at 1152 metric tonnes (MT). The figures for US and India stand at 441 MT and 655 MT respectively.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Posted by at 12:13 PM
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Saturday, January 19, 2013

Go barefoot in search of success, rather than lazily stepping

B&E’s Pawan Chabria meets up with some individuals who opted to go barefoot in search of success, rather than lazily stepping into the comfort of guaranteed, cushioned golden shoes offered by well set organisations...

So what’s the latest offering from Ace Associates? Well, it comes in the form of a mobile service called, ‘Top five points’ through which a particular salesperson is provided with five reasons for justifying why a certain brand of automobile is preferable over a competitive brand whenever he feels a need to convince his customers. As Anuj claims, he has already roped-in two big auto brands as potential customers for this new service venture. At present, he is also on the lookout for new talent who can take care of his new ventures. And this too isn’t posing any problems to Anuj, “Surprisingly, the response to a start-up venture like ours, has been more than expected, which proves the fact that new-gen MBAs are more than willing to work with start-ups...”

Udit Bhandari, CEO of Indimoto.com, an MBA (with specialisation in Marketing) from The University of East London, UK shares some similarities with Anuj. He too joined the auto sector after his management education, where he worked in GM for about six months. As he says, his MBA education made it easier for him to establish his online second-hand car & bike portal in the country. “The MBA programme helped me in increasing my understanding of business and its various modalities. While setting up Indimoto.com, the learning received in management school helped me to realise various value propositions and to create a strong full-time team, a business plan and a marketing strategy,” he explains. Indimoto.com caught people’s attention via its carpooling initiative, which encouraged commuters to share vehicles to save fuel; clever enough an advertising strategy! Rashmi Vaswani, Founder, Rage Chocolatier, is also one of those who are following their passion with a purpose to strike gold; the only difference was that she couldn’t wait to get started and got down to business right after she completed her post-graduate diploma in management. Her passion was manufacturing chocolates, which she took up as a business opportunity in 2005, and success for her has been sweeter than the product itself.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)
Posted by at 9:47 AM
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Friday, January 18, 2013

Eight points which must be followed

Sompal Shastri puts eight points which must be followed if something has to done

The investment required for this is estimated to be around Rs.400,000 crores. States alone, however, are not in a position to mobilize such resources. The central government should share it equally with them. Secondly, there has to be a land use policy strictly prohibiting conversion of fertile land for non-agricultural purposes, except in rare cases.

Thirdly, thoroughly researched models of integrated nutrient and pest management based on use of organic matter and biological controls have to be promoted through out the country.

Fourthly, a comprehensive livestock and biodiversity policy aiming at conservation and improvement of native breeds and varieties through selective breeding must be put in place and form part of the integrated farming systems.

Fifthly, the price policy, which has so far been favouring only a few crops such as wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton, and neglected the coarse grains, that are more nutritious and can be grown with lesser water, needs to be redesigned to make their cultivation equally profitable, if not more. Terms of trade for agriculture too warrant a correction.

Sixthly, all restrictions on trading, stocking, financing, movement and processing of agricultural products must be removed forth with to make India as one integrated market. Seventhly, the numbers dependent on agriculture have to be reduced by creating alternative job opportunities in rural areas and establishing facilities for technical and vocational education for enhancing skills and employability of rural youth.

And lastly, the multiplicity of Indian agriculture must be protected at all costs. We must be self sufficient in almost every item. Food security has to be an integral component of national security. Use of food as a weapon in international politics is not an unknown phenomenon. Our own experience tells that whenever we have deficit, prices in international markets go up.

On the international trade front, we must remain firm that unless the rich countries remove subsidies of all types to their agriculture, we shall continue to insulate our farmers against unfair foreign competition.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)
Posted by at 10:52 AM
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Thursday, January 17, 2013

PARITY: HEADS OF THE STATES VS ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

Comparisons of national GDPs with respective salaries of heads of state reveals some interesting facts

Singapore is quite an aberration though. It pays a whopping $3.14 million (nearly 8 times that of the US President) to its President and $2.47 million to its Prime Minister; while the size of its economy is just $182 billion. Though there are debates over the high salary among Singaporeans, the Government defends it vehemently, on the logic that Singapore compensates its heads of state on the basis of parity with corporate leaders! Perhaps the most striking example would be that of India. The President of democratic republic of India gets a mere Rs.18 lakh annually. The basic salary of the President was a pitiable Rs.120,000 annually prior to 1998 while India emerged as the 6th largest economy in the world with GDP in PPP worth International $1,702.7 billion. This was revised to Rs.6,00,000 ($12,000) in 1998. Later in late 2008, the salary was raised to its current level, while the country witnessed rapid growth and the GDP crossed the trillion dollar mark. That was when India became the 4th largest in terms of GDP in PPP terms and the 12th largest economy in terms of nominal GDP. The PM of India, who is the actual functional head, has an even lower salary of Rs.15,00,000 per year ($31,250).

In UK, the Prime Minister gets about $2,79,000 annually, while its economy is the 6th largest in the world with a nominal GDP of $2.68 trillion. Tiny Hong Kong pays $516,000 (more than the US President and 13 times that of the Indian President!) to its Prime Minister annually, while it has nominal GDP of $215.35 billion, 1/65th of the US economy and 1/5th of the Indian economy. Japan, the 2nd largest economy in the world with a GDP of $4.91 trillion pays $243,000 to its PM annually. Similarly, Australia pays $2,29,000 annually to its PM while it is the 14th largest economy of the world with GDP of $1.013 trillion. In addition, Canada, Germany and France with nominal GDP of $1.499 trillion, $3.673 trillion and $2.867 trillion respectively pay their PMs $2,46,000; $3,03,000 and $3,18,000.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)
Posted by at 10:02 AM
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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

B&E counts the challenges and the strategies to tackle them

R. S. Sharma, CMD, ONGC, in an exclusive with B&E counts the challenges and the strategies to tackle them.

B&E: ONGC has undertaken various ventures and unveiled a huge investment plans for the same. Please highlight the source of funds and the plans there of?

RS: ONGC per se on a standalone basis is a zero debt company. We have enough liquidity to take care of our investments for the next 3-4 years. But to integrate the growth plan of the group we have started initiatives like the petrochemicals at Bhopal with Rs.150 billion investments. It is a SPV where ONGC has 26% equity and the debt-equity ratio is 2:1. Thus there is a large amount of debt involved. So we have tied up with a consortium of around 20 banks to support the almost Rs.80 billion debt. For MRPL expansion, here too, we have enough financial comforts by various banks. We are looking to make an investment in aromatics in Mangalore. OVL too has borrowing of about Rs.50 billion, thus the total borrowing adds up to around Rs.250 billion.

B&E: Please throw some light on your various overseas acquisitions specifically Imperial and the related criticism?

RS: We are already operating in 17 countries and our focus has been the African continent, Latin American countries, Middle East are our pre-dominant areas of operation. The Imperial acquisition has been a very good purchase from the strategic point of view. The acquisition came under a lot of criticism at the time of crude prices crash because in the case of OVL entities there is no system of subsidy sharing so the natural hedge is not available. So there was huge criticism that this transaction would result in heavy losses but we have been maintaining strong fundamentals which is likely to shield us against the price crash. The volatility in the prices was not based on fundamentals as there were no reasons for prices to sky-rocket to $147 per barrel but again there was no reason for them to crash either.

B&E: ONGC has adopted inorganic activities as a major way to grow and expand, is it a growth or survival strategy and why?

RS: M&A is both a growth and survival strategy for ONGC. We are in a business where the assets are depleting in nature so in order to sustain our business we need to have more number of assets. One term that is very important in our business is reserve replacement. Whatever underlined oil and gas reserve we have depletes with its production and as company we need to ensure replacement of those by adding new assets either through exploratory efforts or through organic or inorganic activities. So these help us in sustaining and of course one has to look for growth to increase their reserve profiles.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)
Posted by at 12:10 PM
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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

US: PRIVATE SECURITY FIRMS

Where are the PSC regulations?

Although Erik Prince resigned as Blackwater’s CEO in March 2009, he remains the Chairman and sole owner. The company has received millions of dollars in government contracts and despite Iraqi government’s protests, the US State Department – disregarding various ongoing investigations by their own departments against the firm – renewed Blackwater’s contract in 2008 (the Iraqi government refused the renewal).

The problem goes deeper. In UK, around 11,000 non-EU nationals acting as quasi-PSCs are guarding sensitive sites. Recently, Afghan authorities had shut down two private security companies (as they were charged under murder and robbery). Marouane Bourannane, the security guard who protected Gordon Brown at the Labour Party conference, was held travelling on a fake French passport after being actually ‘vetted’ by his security firm. We wonder, why in heavens aren’t nations passing structured regulations on the PSC industry if it’s now not just a question about guarding people, but of guarding nations and their leaders?


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)
Posted by at 5:41 PM
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Monday, January 14, 2013

Let’s not think ‘small & medium’

DSE’s SME exchange is worthy of applause, but they have to avoid becoming OTCEI

It was like a dream come true for many of the small and medium enterprise (SME) owners whom we came across when they heard that Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) is planning to get back to business with focus on specialised services for SMEs (subject to SEBI approval). And why not, for this can provide them with a much needed platform to raise capital, their biggest problem so far in their vision for a dream enterprise.

But then, they should be warned by history. A similar concept was introduced in 1990, named OTCEI (Over-The-Counter Exchange of India). Today, it writes (very proudly) in its website, “As a measure of success of these efforts (introduction of screen-based nationwide trading, market making and scrip-less trading), the exchange has 115 listings.” Superb! 115 listings in 19 years. Perhaps, that’s why many don’t even remember that OTCEI still exists!

With a live example of disaster, why is DSE interested in setting up a SME exchange? Answers B. K. Sabarwal, Director, DSE, “A recent survey has revealed that 92% of unorganised enterprises in India do not receive financial assistance from banks or from any other source... An exchange is the best way to make them competitive.” Moreover, DSE is not only looking forward to the opportunity present in India’s 13 million (approx.) SMEs; it has adopted the model of London-based Alternative Investment Market (AIM)). Certainly a great idea, considering that it has 3,075 listings and raised $104 billion since its inception in 1995. But, only by following AIM, the job can’t be done successfully.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)
Posted by at 10:06 AM
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Friday, January 11, 2013

Subscriber no. 74,000,001

arun sarin pulled off what some called a seat-of-the-pants strategy, when he entered india as a suspected knee-jerk reaction to vodafone’s japanese exit. b&e does a run-on with current vodafone head of marketing, cmo harit nagpal on the whys and more...

We’re sure Arun Sarin would have read this, if he had still been in Vodafone. February 11, 2007, Vodafone Plc. announced its decision to pick up a 52% stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd. (the fourth largest telecom company in India) to get its footing in one of the fastest growing telecom markets of the world. There seemed to be an immense potential for any new player to come in and try to grab a sizeable chunk in India. But critics had put forward, and with much basis, that this India-entry was just a seat of the pants strategy for Arun Sarin, who wanted to somehow cut the flak that he had received after exiting the Japanese market. Especially when he already had an idea that he himself was on his way out from Vodafone global. And at that juncture, he didn’t want to be, in a stakeholder’s term, “Welched!” (referring to how GE’s top shareholders crucified Welch after he’d exited GE). But this is not to say that Arun was playing truant. He had his numbers well prepared while selling the idea to his board. At that time, India was adding almost 5.5 to 6.5 million customers every month; and the penetration level was well under 20%, showing massive potential in future growth. Well said, well bought. What happened thereon?

Like we mentioned, Arun would have loved to be here and now! 2009, only two years post the acquisition, Vodafone Essar Ltd. is already one step better than when they entered; they’re the third largest telecom company in India in terms of subscribers with 74 million subscribers, (as on May 2009 Source: TRAI). Though the godzillasque Bharti Airtel is not ‘overtakeable’ in the next three years (Sunil Mittal, whom we interviewed two issues ago, has 99.55 million subscribers in his company), the second in ranking figures, Reliance Communications, is more a possibility, as it has only 77.22 subscribers, a figure that can be overtaken in a year with tactical marketing. But that’s not all. Vodafone is already the second largest in terms of revenues by clocking Rs.203 billion in FY09 (growing by 35.4% in the last year) and trailing only Airtel that got in revenues to the tune of Rs.261 billion in the same period.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Posted by at 10:25 AM
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Thursday, January 10, 2013

From engineers to politicians

From engineers to politicians, everyone’s signing up for finishing schools!

These finishing touches are not only relevant to corporate houses and executives, even school students, renowned politicians and our much-loved sports as well as film personalities opt for courses such as Impression Management and Corporate Finesse. Just short of elections, several politicians enrol for private sessions in order to improve their image and add class to their portfolios. Most students are not open about their opting for these sessions though, and exact names of the students are usually kept confidential.

Understanding the psychology of a person and inferring why a person behaves in a certain manner is essential in order to correct undesirable mannerisms. Psychology is an integral part of personality grooming and Ms. Warrick says, “Just because some people are page three personalities, it doesn’t mean they can open a finishing school. You can’t be an engineer without attending school. Similarly, you can’t be in a finishing school without going through the grind yourself. You need to be certified, and lastly it is essential to be bilingual.”

It was once said that “no one is perfect… that’s why pencils have erasers.” But on the contrary, pencils also have sharpeners, which help us to write better and neater. Character building and personality development begin from childhood and continue until our death. “It’s beauty that captures your attention; personality which captures your heart.” And if until now you don’t know how to greet a woman or raise a toast… then the goblet of knowledge is indeed empty my friend...!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Posted by at 2:41 PM
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Wednesday, January 09, 2013

The concept of a PLC

Global case studies of struggling brands show that similar to the concept of a PLC (Product Life Cycle), revival strategies must depend on the stage of life cycle that the brand is in as well as the real reasons why it has lost its connect with its customers. When properly applied, brands can survive many PLCs

Brands that face decline typically would fall into two categories – those that carry a huge legacy and those who don’t. American Airlines is in the first, and it’s trying hard to win back customers. It’s AAdvantage Mystery Miles program achieved huge success on Facebook initially with 210,000 fans within 54 hours of launch, and is a welcome step towards engagement. But besides getting seats filled quickly, the airline needs to ensure a far improved service. Similarly, Sony and Nokia are now perceived to be far less innovation and customer oriented than before. Departmental store chain Sears is said to have suffered due to poor focus on store upkeep, lack of a clear positioning & a disdainful approach to merchandising, while the likes of Wal-Mart and Target galloped ahead. Jaguar’s target audience aged over time. Jean-Noel Kapferer, Professor at HEC Paris, cites the instance of Mercedes in his book ‘Strategic Brand Management’, which faced a decline in brand perception over 10 years back and lost its aspirational tag to the Toyota Lexus. It was being perceived as an old brand, and Jean asserts, “The event that revitalised Mercedes was the launch of the A-Class... It departed from the traditional Mercedes image on two counts – it had a front-wheel drive and a completely different design. However, it still had the interior space of the C-Class and the safety of the E-Class.” It also attracted a younger clientele with an average age of 37. Typically, legacy brands attempting rejuvenation tend to balance the old and the new.

On the other hand, a brand like Yahoo! has problems of a different nature. It doesn’t have that kind of legacy by its side, and may actually be long gone before it does! It started off in 1994 by positioning itself as “David & Jerry’s guide to the World Wide Web”, after the Stanford students who started it. Within three years, Yahoo! had the largest audience on the internet. But later efforts at being the customer’s window to the web appeared quite misguided. Moreover, the company lost out to Google on search, which made the latter the preferred window to the internet world, even though Yahoo! still retains a more interesting, informative and nicely segmented web portal. It’s not just search that it missed monetising on. It acquired Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion in 1999 to capitalise on multimedia on the web, seven years before Google acquired YouTube. However, they failed to gain popularity. Besides, Yahoo! missed out on the social networking bus as well as the movement of masses of customers to mobile phones. BlackBerry faces problems of a similar nature globally. Though its messaging service has a huge fan following, the company’s products have lost their edge amidst the Android and Apple wave. Such brands, that face rejuvenation issues so early in their life cycle, have to be more open to drastic measures. They may need to radically reposition themselves through proper communication to attract new audiences. But Ramanujam Sreedhar, noted brand consultant and CEO, brand-comm, also cautions, “Before you go for a brand repositioning, you must analyse if the product itself has become irrelevant.”


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Posted by at 11:29 AM
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Tuesday, January 08, 2013

The new rules of 2012: Engage, Empower, Entertain, Educate, Enrich.

How advertisers are redefining the 5Es of advertising

“Brand advertising seems to be on its way out.” Al Ries, Chairman, Ries & Ries

“Advertising’s role in this new world becomes not just a demand driver but also a counterbalancing force to price as the main determinant of consumer choice.” Gian Fulgoni, Executive chairman and co-founder, comScore, Inc.

When it comes to building and leveraging brand equity, the advertising discipline itself has come into serious question in recent years. While Ries argues that brands cannot be advertised as before, Fulgoni talks about the new role of advertising. And these are not isolated instances. Advertisers in India and globally are well aware of how debated this domain is today. The reasons range from rising clutter to evolved consumers to the proliferation of consumer touch points, particularly the rise of internet and social media.

The relative importance of advertising can be gauged if one looks at how one wrong move affects brands in this networked age. Take for example, an ad released by group discount website Groupon last year. In February 2011, Groupon broadcast its first ever TV commercial during the Super Bowl. On the same day, CEO Andrew Mason wrote a blog stating that they had trouble figuring out who to work with as an advertising partner. “Our peculiar taste in humour made it really hard for outside agencies to come up with concepts we liked. This time around, we had better luck with ad firm Crispin Porter + Bogusky,” wrote Mason. One of the ads in the series opens up in what seems to be a restaurant based in Tibet. Academy award winning actor Timothy Hutton is sitting on a table. When the waiter arrives with the food, Hutton says, “The people of Tibet are in trouble. Their very culture is in jeopardy. But they still whip up an amazing fish curry. And since 200 of us bought at Groupon.com, we’re each getting $30 worth of Tibetan food for just $15 at Himalayan Restaurant in Chicago.” A voiceover ends the ad stating: Save the money. A lot of great deals in your town. Groupon.com. Now the creative was humorous, but it rubbed many netizens the wrong way. Add to that the reaction from the Chinese, who are a key market for Groupon and the fact that the restaurant owner himself went on to criticise the ad and you had a sure shot recipe for disaster! Mason, who was very upbeat about CP+B, soon fired the agency and went on to publicly berate them in a Bloomberg Businessweek profile where he said that he had put too much trust in the agency. “We turned off the part of our brain where we should have made our own decisions. We learned that you can’t rely on anyone else to control and maintain your own brand,” said Mason. Clearly, differentiation has become a tricky terrain.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Posted by at 12:36 PM
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